Obesity Claim Under ADA Carries No Weight With Justices

The U.S. Supreme Court Oct. 3 declined to review a rejected job applicant’s claim that morbid obesity should be covered as an impairment under the Americans with Disabilities Act (Morriss v. BNSF Ry. Co., U.S., No. 16-233, cert. denied 10/3/16).

Melvin Morriss, a 285-pound worker denied a machinist job by BNSF Railway Co., sought review of a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit decision that the ADA doesn’t cover obesity unless the condition is linked to an underlying physiological disorder.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in an appeals court briefhad supported Morriss’ contention that morbid ...